


Elixir

by Angelike



Series: Letters of the Law [5]
Category: Gouhou Drug | Legal Drug
Genre: First Kiss, Flash Fiction, Illness, M/M, POV First Person, Pre-Relationship, Present Tense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-04-02
Updated: 2006-04-02
Packaged: 2017-10-06 17:10:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/55952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angelike/pseuds/Angelike
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rikuo tends to a sick Kazahaya.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Elixir

> e·lix·ir n
>     1: a sweet flavored liquid (usually containing a small amount of alcohol) used in compounding medicines to be taken by mouth in order to mask an unpleasant taste
>     2: a substance believed to cure all ills

You really should have listened to me, you know. If only you hadn’t _stubbornly_ insisted on staying out in the freezing cold _all goddamn day_ just to make a point! Carelessly exposing your already delicate constitution to the elements is hardly the way to prove _anything_ other than the fact that your idiocy clearly knows no boundaries. Just what were you thinking? Or were you even thinking at all?

What am I to make of your behavior, when you miserably confess to not feeling very well in the morning only to foolishly agree to Kakei’s proposal that we all go ice-skating in the evening. Saiga’s baiting is no excuse. He baits you about everything. It wouldn’t kill you to ignore him every once in a while.

Was it my own teasing that set you off?  I’ll admit that my own behavior has not been entirely beyond reproach this evening. First, I should not have mocked the fact that—as you had never worn a pair of skates before—you would probably spend much of the outing sliding across the ice on your bruised bum. Although my words had been intended more as a humorous warning than a challenge, it was remiss of me to presume you would recognize the difference. Second, I should have swiped Kakei’s fuzzy pink handcuffs and chained you to your bed rather than allow you out of the apartment. That could have made for a far more interesting night.

I’m sorry. I should have looked out for you better.

I’ve never seen you so wretched.

I’ve seen you depressed before. I’ve seen you angry and irritable. I’ve seen you cry. I’ve seen you shout and rage until your throat goes hoarse from abuse. I’ve seen you at your very worst. But I have never seen you like _this_. It’s almost as if you are...

Lifeless.

Come on, Kazahaya. I know you’re in pain. I know you’re half delirious with fever. I know the light hurts your eyes, that any noise above the level of a whisper sends a searing ache through your brain, that your muscles are stiff and sore and all you want to do is curl up and die. I know. But, _please_, I’m _begging_ you; won’t you at least open your eyes and look at me? I won’t laugh and say, “I told you so.” I won’t mock you and tell you to stop whining like a girl if you feel the need to cry. I won’t push you away if you feel the need to be coddled like the frightened little boy that you are, desperately in need of some tender love and care. I promise, I’ll take care of you. Haven’t I always taken care of you before? Am I not always there to rescue you when you get into trouble? Don’t I always catch you before you fall, no matter what? Won’t you let me take care of you this time?

I know you’re awake. Don’t ignore me.

“I won’t take the medicine,” you moan pathetically, and I wince to hear the agony in your voice—the unshed tears. “It tastes vile. So why don’t you just leave me alone?”

I cannot help but frown and wonder why you seem so dead set against letting me—or anyone—help you. Surely this is not just about the taste of the liquid, though I can’t say that the saccharine mixture appeals much to me either. You’re just being pigheaded, as usual. Surprise, surprise.

“Kaza-_chan_,” I say slowly, as if speaking to a child, “the medicine will make you feel better. It was made to help you, not hurt you.”

“I don’t care.”

Well I do. On that day I found you in the park, half dead and without a soul to care for you in the world, I promised myself that _I_ would take care of you. I will protect you the way I wasn’t able to protect—

Well.  That is.

If keeping you well means protecting you from yourself, then so be it.

Quickly, before you have a chance to open your eyes and realize what I’m doing, I take the syrup into my mouth (it really is vile) and lean down, pressing my mouth to yours. You tense instantly, your eyes opening in shock, and I know that if I hadn’t already taken the opportunity to render you immobile, my body pinning down your delicate frame to the bed, your wrists restrained above your head in a gentle but firm grasp, you would have struggled. As things stood, you were too weak to offer up any pointless resistance, instead giving into the inevitable and melting into the kiss.

The moment your lips part, I know I’ve won, and your lovely green eyes flash angrily as the cherry-flavored liquid hits your tongue. You try your very hardest to pull away then, but I do not relent until the very last drop of your cure has been swallowed.

There are tears in your eyes when I pull back, and my heart broke to see them. Had I been too brash? Too presumptuous?

Yes.

Yes, I had.

“Jerk,” you sob as I release my grip on your wrists and returned to a sitting position at the edge of your bed. I wince, and knew it is true. “You... You stole my first kiss!” Oh. Well. I close my eyes and smile sadly. “And all for the sake of administering some stupid medicine...” I can feel his slender form shaking behind me, convulsing with emotion. “I hate you!”

Who is the idiot now?

Don’t answer that question. I already know.


End file.
